Faerie Crafty

Introducing....

2009-01-24T18:38:00.005-05:00

So Nugget spent the two weeks that me and JF spend in Newfoundland at JF's parents with 4 other cats. He came back 4lbs lighter due to all the playing and the fact that he wasn't the only trying to eat. This is a really good thing because we'd been having some issues with his weight, and activity levels. Our conclusion was that it was due time he get a friend to play with. So we headed out last Saturday to find him a buddy. We ended up at the SPCA and found a little guy that we fell in love with. So without further ado:

Meet Burrito.

His name was originally Brido, we didnt like it and there's a food theme with animal names in our family so we changed it to something that sounds pretty much just like his old name. (Names include Poutine, Cannelle (cinnamon in french), Baileys, Nugget and now Burrito, there's also a dog named Brownie).

We're not sure if Nugget and Burrito are really getting along all that well, mostly because they seem to be fighting a lot but I think its just play fighting. My comfort was finding them like this:
two cats that hated each other wouldn't be this close together and peaceful right??

Christmas trip and Christmas knitting

2009-01-24T17:59:00.006-05:00

Oh boy did I ever take on too much xmas knitting, it's still not all done. and we're almost February.

Me and JF spent two weeks in Newfoundland with my family for Xmas. It was the first time he'd been there for the holidays and my first time since 2003. What a relief, I literally did nothing for most of the trip.

In my last post I had just started my dad's socks. A few days after xmas I finally finished them (due to lack of an internet connection for most of the trip, I needed to look up something so I could finish)

Details:
Pattern:Toe up sock with gusset this heel using the magic cast on.
Yarn: Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock
Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm circ
Made for: Dad
Timeline: Nov 29th, 2008 - Dec 30th, 2008
Modifications: Just 2X2 rib, mostly improvised pattern.

He likes them a lot and wore them pretty much immediately.

Next up was a hat for my brother that I cast on on the way to NL and cast off the next day. I didn't want my brother to see me knitting it so I had to put my dad's sock aside for a bit. I knew my dad would see his socks cause I wanted them to fit him perfectly and so he got to try them on.

Details:
Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole
Yarn: Cascade Superwash - Charcoal 900,
left over Blueberry, Green Apple and Chocolate for stripes
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Made for: Matthew
Timeline: Dec 21st, 2008 - Dec 22nd, 2008
Modifications: Added three 3-row stripes.

Somewhere in there I also finished my grand-father's Heavy socks which I started back in August on my trip to Maine.

Details:

Pattern:#101 Heavy Socks by Briggs & Little
Yarn: Briggs & Little Tuffy Smoke 87 & Oxford 86
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm
Made for: Pop N.
Timeline: Aug 22nd, 2008 - Dec 18th, 2008
Modifications: Added contrast heel, toe and cuff.

In the airport on the way home I cast on for my MIL's hat . She wanted a simple hat with earflaps but not like a snowboarder hat just so that her ears are very well covered. I this on with a very bad sinus infection, while extremely tired with no pattern and little idea of how I thought it might work. This is what I came up with.

Details:
Pattern: Ribbed Ear Flap hat by Me (pattern to come)
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Galway Colornep
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Made for: MIL
Timeline: Jan 3rd, 2009 - Jan 9th, 2009
Modifications: None, it's all my design.

I also made an earflap hat for JF's sister it was this pattern but I forgot to photograph it before I gave it to her. I should be able to get a picture soon.

I also started a pair of gloves for my mom and I couldn't get them finished before I left so I brought them home with me. Because of the fact that we are seeing some people soon whose gifts I haven't finished, I have to put them on the backburner as well. I should photograph the progress soon however.

My most recent project has been a pair of Trigger Mitts for JF's grandfather. He's not a hunter but spends a lot of time outside in the winter shoveling (he enjoys shoveling). I thought that these would be perfect for him. I'm using two patterns to help me figure out parts of this, but it's pretty straight forward once you understand the basic construction of mittens and gloves. One of the patterns is something I got that's from Newfoundland, and it's the most common pattern for this type of mitt. I didn't follow the colourwork though and decided to go with Salt and Pepper on the back and thumb and finger and something simpler on the palms. JF is really enjoying these so they probably wont be my last pair.

Details:
Pattern: loosely based on Soft Mit-Gloves by Emily-Jane as well as a traditional Newfoundland pattern.
Yarn: Cascade Superwash - Chocolate 819 & Charcoal 900
Needles: US 4 / 3.5 mm
Made for: JF's grandfather
Timeline: Jan 10th, 2009 - Jan 25th, 2009 (I'm hoping to finish by tomorrow)
Modifications: lots. colour work, number of stitches. More or less improvised.

I'll post a picture of them when they're done.

All I have left is 1.5 pairs of Newfoundland mittens. The Pink and black one needs it's mate and I'm also doing a Purple and white pair for JF's cousins. I also need to make a felted kitchen set for JF's grandmother. Hopefully I'll be able to finish within the next 2 weeks. Then I can finish my mom's gloves. I really want to knit something for myself after that.

Just keep knitting, just keep knitting.....

2008-12-01T22:47:00.007-05:00

So yeah, this xmas knitting thing is getting old. I am advancing however and have managed to crank out another couple FOs. I finished the pink/peach/coral socks:

Details:
Pattern: 3x3 Cable with Moss Stitch by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: louet gems fingering - soft coral 04

Needles US 1 / 2.25 mm
Made for: Nan N.
Timeline: July 7th, 2008 - Nov 25th, 2008
it didn't actually take this long, July 7th was the date I cast on with the original colourway. Sometime after that I changed colours, and did other projects between the two socks.
Modifications: Only really used the stitch pattern, did the sock over 66 sts. continued cables on heel flap.

I really love the pattern and will definitely be making myself a pair at some point.

I also made myself another hat. I realized that when I wear my hair up in a headband it makes my head bigger and non of my hats would actually stay on. I opted for a slouchier hat but not too slouchy cause I still want it to stay on by itself.

Details:

Pattern: Slouchy Copy Cat Hat by Terra Jamieson
Yarn : Susan Andrews Collection Inca Gold Marra - Dusty Rose 3995
Needles US 6 / 4.0 mm
Made for: Me!
Timeline: Nov 19th, 2008 - Nov 27th, 2008
I was working on this while working on the second sock. I wasn't really digging cabling on the metro so this was my commute knitting.
Modifications:I cast on more stitches in the beginning, I was worried about it being too tight. It worked out perfectly.

I also finally cast on my dad's sock. I said I would wait, but I saw someone at Ariadne's knit night doing a method that I found quite intriguing and I decided to try it. Two socks at once toe up, using the magic cast on. I'd wanted to do these socks toe up and two at a time, but I don't like the short row toe and I wasn't crazy about the one in Interweave. This one seemed simple and really nice. So I tried it and it's awesome. I probably should have cast on more stitches but oh well, the toes will be slightly pointy.

I'm a bit further than this, almost done the toe increases. It will be done in 2X2 rib once the toe is complete.

The last of my projects is not really knitting but I'm sure they'll get lots of knitting related use anyway. I decided to finally make myself some Placemat Sock Blockers, I've had the placemats for a while so it was just a matter of printing out the template and doing them. You can see them in the photo with the pink socks as well but here they are all nekkid:

Details:
Pattern: Sock Blocker by Maryann Wu
Made for: Me (Size 7-9 foot) maybe even more.
Timeline: Nov 30th, 2008
I really needed some sock blockers, but I'm not really able to spend $30ish on them right now so I decided to go this route. They're flimsy-ish but work really well.

I also procured some yarn this week, Ariadne got in some more Marra, and this stuff makes me weak in the knees and it's really inexpensive due to it being discontinued. I bought 15 balls of Fuchsia: The colour is not quite right, but is as close as I could get it. I figure that it might become Mr. Greenjeans but I'm still not sure.

Next is something I've been eyeing for a while. I went to a craft fair a while back to see Biscotte (shop link) and she was all out of the colourway I was really looking for. I did end up walking away with a skien of her Watermelon and one in Lavender fields. (I didnt take pictures before winding into cakes. I need to photograph the cakes). The colourway I was looking for was this one:

Biscotte & Cie's Kiss the Frog sock yarn.

I love the colours and I can wait to see how it knits up.. I just have to find a pattern.

I also cast on for the second Heavy Sock but It's such a boring knit that pictures were just not necessary. I'm still not sure I will finish.

6 down
3 in progress
9 to go (3 hats and some other optionals or at least later deadlines.)

More FOs

2008-11-22T12:45:00.003-05:00

Apparently November has been kind of a slow month. I only managed to get a couple more things finished.

First I finished the Icewine mittens (The second was considerably faster than the first). In the end I ended up ripping out the thumb of the first too to change the placement of the border and then make it longer. Here they are in all their glory.

Details:
Pattern: Icewine Mittens by aemmeleia

Yarn: Berocco Ultra Alpaca - Pea Soup Mix 6275 & Prune Mix 6284

Needles US 3 / 3.25 mm
Made for:Aunt June
Timeline: Sept 12th, 2008 - Nov 10th, 2008
Modifications: slightly longer thumbs and changed placement of border on the right thumb.

Next up was another simple hat for another cousin. I used the Boyfriend Hat pattern again because I quite enjoy the simplicity of it and the nice decreases.

Details:
Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole
Yarn: Cascade Superwash - Gray 816
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Made for: Grant
Timeline: Nov 10th, 2008 - Nov 11th, 2008
Modifications: None

I also cast on a pair of gloves for my mom, but the colour was all wrong, so I'm waiting on another colourway. I also cast on another hat for myself, a slightly slouchier version that I'll be able to wear when I wear my hair up. the peachy-pink socks are also close to be done, but since the second looks exactly like the first I haven't bothered to take pictures. Next up will be the second Briggs and Little sock. Hopefully I can actually get most of what I'd hoped accomplished.

In other news I have started working again. I'm working as a Temp for an agency that I was referred to by janemumbles. Obviously it's not permanent but I'm ok with that. I figure that this gives me a chance to try different kinds of jobs while actually still making some money. Obviously this is cutting into my knitting time a little but I'm still hopeful that I'll be able to finish at least most of what I started. I'll be back soon with some more FOs and pictures.

New FOs

2008-11-04T11:04:00.004-05:00

I've really been trying to make some progress on my Xmas knitting. I was hitting a lot of trouble with every project, having to restart most of them at least once and most often twice. I decided that I need to get some of the hats scratched of my list, since they are almost instant gratification and would give me some more stamina to complete some of the harder projects.

First I did the Irish Hiking hat. I removed the ribbing, cause I don't think it's really necessary on a cable/rib pattern. This one is for my cousin, who requested a green toque.

Details:
Pattern: Irish Hiking Hat by Blackhorsefree
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool - Christmas Green 8894
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Made for: Kyron
Timeline: Oct 16th, 2008 - Oct 18th, 2008
Modifications: Omitted ribbing

Next I moved onto a simple black/tweed tuque for my Father-in-law who prefers his hats to be a little short. (Not covering the ears, although it looks perfect on my hat model).

Details:
Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Galway Colornep - Black 509
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Made for: Father-in-law
Timeline: Oct 19th, 2008 - Oct 20th, 2008
Modifications: Shorter to not cover ears

Since I felt like I was on a roll I decided to keep going with hats and moved on to my brother's hat. I decided on using the Montreal Tuque pattern by Veronik Avery because of the three colour combination. His colour choices have nothing to do with the Edmonton Oilers and everything to do with the fact that they match his winter coat!

Details:
Pattern: Montreal Tuque by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Lang Yarns Merino 150 - Navy 0035, Gray 0124, & Orange 0059
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm
Made for: Father-in-law
Timeline: Oct 21st, 2008 - Oct 28th, 2008
Modifications: none

At this point, I'm starting to get tired of knitting for others. So I decide to cast on a hat for myself to ensure that I don't get angry about all this knitting for others that I'm doing. I was looking at yarns at Ariadne and I got drawn in by the Classic Elite Yarns Jil Eaton Minnow Merino. I looked on ravelry and there aren't that many patterns for it yet but I did see one Foliage that caught my eye and so I decided to finally cast on for that pattern. Especially since it's been in my queue for a few months and I've wanted to make it ever since it came out. It was my first time doing a hat top down so the beginning was a little confusing. The verdict is still out there on the yarn because although I love the colour and the fact that it's superwash despite looking like roving, it's kind of fuzzy/pilly and splits very easily (due to its roving nature) and it is tricky to fix your mistakes (unknit). I do love the way it feels (it's beautifully squishy). I won't decide how I feel about it until I've actually worn it a few times. As for the finished product, I should have chosen a better cast off method cause it's a little tight, but that just means that it also won't slide of my head like all my other hats (I have big hair).

Details:
Pattern: Foliage by Emilee Mooney
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Jil Eaton Minnow Merino - Aqua 4720
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm & US 5 / 3.75 mm
Made for: ME!
Timeline: Oct 30th, 2008 - Nov 3rd, 2008
Modifications: none

Before I started on this hat streak I finished my first of four Newfoundland Mittens for JF's cousins. They're 7 & 12 (i think, maybe 8 & 13) and instead of using a neutral with Noro this time, I just chose their favourite colours with white and black. The first is for the eldest, whose favourite colour is "Rose Fluo" or Bright pink. I decided to pair it with black since that makes it pop. The second pair will be "Mauve" or purple with white.

Details:
Pattern: Newfoundland Mitts by Traditional Design
Yarn: Mystery Pink Merino (Zara-like) and Black sock yarn (Regia or Phildar)
Needles US 3 / 3.25 mm & US 2½ / 3.0 mm
Made for: Lolo
Timeline: Sept 27th, 2008 - Oct 16th, 2008
Modifications: added pattern repeats both in width and length, black yarn held double.

I still have a ton of projects to finish for xmas, but I'm slowing getting things done. I will have some extra time as I am spending xmas in Newfoundland and will be leaving the Quebec gifts until last and can knit on them while in Newfoundland, to be given in the New Year.

Mountain Adventure.

2008-10-08T11:25:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was my father-in-law's birthday, and for his birthday he decided that he wanted to climb a mountain with his family. I was invited to come and despite my uncertainty about climbing a fair-sized mountain I went along for the adventure.

We went to Mt. Mansfield near Underhill, VT. It is much bigger than the only other mountain I've ever climbed Mont St-Hilaire. we set out early Sunday morning and got started on the mountain around 9 am. I started to get discouraged pretty early on because my asthma was giving me hell and making me extremely out of breath. At some point I'd pretty much given up but then I got a second wind and upon seeing this I just couldn't stop, I knew I wanted to see it from the top:

View from (almost) the top.

We finally made it and although the pictures don't really capture it (it was a bit foggy and the pictures show this) it was beautiful, absolutely the best time of the year to climb a mountain. We ate lunch and then started walking towards our descent point. shortly after we started to descend it started to snow (I'm not even kidding). It finally stopped and we kept coming down very slowly (I always thought that coming down was faster than going up but it was wet and slightly slippery so we came down extremely slow).

Those little white dots are snow people!!

We finally got off the mountain and everybody was in pain. Getting up and down has been the hardest thing ever for the last 2 days. But I'm still very glad I did it. I probably won't be doing that size of a mountain again for a while. I figure I'm better off building up to it.

Sewing: DPN case

2008-10-08T11:19:00.004-05:00

I got a sewing machine for xmas last year and I hadn't really used it due to lack of a sewing space. Recently I did some cleaning and re-arranging in my office and created a sewing nook for myself. I've been wanting to make myself a DPN case for a while now and last week I finally did so.

All rolled up

other side
closed unrolled.
open needles hidden
fully open.

I used some fabric that was bought specifically for this purpose over a year ago with some fabric that I bought recently. I used snaps for closing the case and I used clothing labels to label the pockets (I have a full set of dpns and wanted them to stay organized).

I hope to make a couple more to perfect my sewing and then eventually start selling them on etsy. I'll let you know when they're up.

More stash

2008-10-08T10:40:00.010-05:00

Just an update on other random stash I've acquired in the past few months.

Robyn's Nest sock clubs:

July's kit which is a dye your own and it came with Kool-aid to dye with. I can't wait to try it
August's kit which was designed by Robyn and dyed by Tanis Fibre Arts
September's Kit.

The ladies at Ariadne decided to put my favourite yarn on clearance and I obviously couldn't resist. I only bought two colours in christmas-y colours to maybe make something for the holidays.

Earlier this summer I stopped by Les Lainages du petit mouton and found some Regia on sale as well as a very bright Noro (probably for another pair of Newfoundland mittens).

At my first visit to Effiloché since just after they opened I spotted Ranco Multy which for a 100g sock yarn was fairly inexpensive and I rather enjoyed the colours:
I made another trip to Ariadne a little more recently to aquire some yarn for my xmas knitting. Some Lang 150 merino and was also tempted by their new Koigu.

destined to be a Montreal toque for my brother

I'm contemplating the Chevron scarf in these two colours.

I visited my LYS here on the south shore Saute Mouton and fell in love with the colours of this OnLine sock yarn:

Later that same day I stopped by a Quebec chain of department stores (known for being fairly cheap in quality) just to check for something, I stumbled into their yarn section and low and behold they now carry Briggs and Little tuffy. I grabbed two colours that I hadn't seen before:

Greystone
Granite

And last but not least is some Cascade 220 superwash from Robyn's Nest also for some xmas knitting. I ordered this special from Robyn. She has a multitude of new colours of the superwash in her store now.

This will probably be the last of my stash acquisitions for a while. At least until I start getting my xmas gifts. :D

Icewine mitten and Alpaca yarn

2008-10-08T10:26:00.004-05:00

So I started knitting the first Icewine Mitten only to discover that the green I chose didn't work at all with the purple. Too dark and barely visible when knit in fair-isle. I set out on a hunt for a better green and finally found an Ultra Alpaca supplier in Montreal. I set out to Effiloché hoping that she would have one of the lighter greens I saw online. (She had two). I chose a colour called Pea Soup mix (love the name) and while I was there I decided that I should buy another colour to go with the darker green for a future project. I settled on a colour called Winter Squash (I'm more and more attracted to oranges and more autumnal colours. I will probably make Kate Gilbert's Wintergreen mittens with these colours.

Pea Soup Mix
Winter Squash

I did restart and finish the first Icewine mitten. I really like the pattern, and once I changed one circular instead of dpns things started going much smoother. ( I was getting bumps because of fair-isle and dpns blech!) Here the first mitt:

front
back

Partial FOs

2008-09-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

I got started on some of my xmas knitting. And since there are quite a few pairs of socks to be done, I figured that if I do them 1 sock/pair at a time, instead of both right away I might avoid SSS (second sock syndrome). Although it could just end up that I have multiple people with just one sock for xmas as well. (let's hope not).

My first FO is not actually for Xmas but for my brother's birthday in late september. He mentioned to me that he started wearing tuques all the time (summer, winter, whenever). I thought that this was the perfect occasion to finally make him something since I never really knew if he would appreciate a knitted item or not. I decided on the Karma Hat in Rowan Felted Tweed. It took me one day to complete, very fast and I have lots of yarn left (I over estimated) . I will probably make more possibly for myself.

I also finished a Heavy Sock with Briggs and Little Tuffy; I started knitting these on my way to Maine, it's what I'm knitting on the beach. These will be for one of my grandfather's for

These socks are going to be bullet-proof.

Next I finished one of the 3x3 Cable with Moss Stitch socks by Charlene Schurch. These are for my grandmom for xmas

Alpacas & Apples

2008-09-08T08:58:00.006-05:00

Sept 7 was la journée Portes ouvertes sur les fermes du Québec. Basically certain farms in Quebec open their doors to the public for tours and info sessions and whatnot.

I heard the announcement for it on the radio one morning while I drove JF to work and when I came home I decide to look it up to see if there was anything that I'd be interested in visiting. At first I was thinking a sheep farm, but then I realized that most sheep farms in quebec are mainly for meat. I didn't particularly like this idea, especially considering I find mutton and lamb to be utterly disgusting. I kept looking and I discovered that there was an alpaca farm not too far from home and just down the street from that was an Apple Orchard. I love alpacas and apple picking so this made for the perfect outing.

Our first stop was the alpaca farm where we got to interact with two male alpacas. (they're so soft). The farm is Alpagas des hauts Vents. The older one was really not happy he stood in the middle of the pen the whole time and wouldn't let anyone touch him.

This is Romeo.
This was Romeo's son, I don't remember his name. I got to touch him and feed him.
The females and babies were in a seperate area.

There was a small boutique on site where they sold mostly items made from alpaca but they did have a small selection of yarn. Some of it was from North American alpacas but I chose the yarn that is spun from the alpacas on this farm (very local). Here's what I got:

Two skeins of 100% alpaca lace weight
100% alpaca worsted.

After the visit with the alpacas we headed for McMillan Orchards. I got some really nice pictures.

We got a big bag full of beautiful apples which I'm sure will be used for deliciousness.

On the way home I happened to see a flock of sheep by the side of the road. JF turned the car around so we could see them, there were apple trees near by so we decided to see if they'd be interested in some apple:

JF feeding them apple.

One of them got really close to check us out.
JF took this one as we were leaving. I just thought it was neat.

Overall a pretty good day. I really enjoyed the two activities. I will be sure and check it out again next year.

My Birthday

2008-08-25T16:16:00.008-05:00

For my birthday this year JF offered to take me on a road trip. I desperately wanted to see the Ocean (I miss it so much), so I decided to go somewhere in New England. After a little bit of research I almost chose Boston, but then decided on Maine, since it's so pretty and apparently has quite a few yarn shops.

We took the scenic route down and drove into Portland to check out yarn shops (Central yarn Shop, Knit Wit and Seaport Yarns) and in the evening we took a little Ferry Cruise around Casco Bay. We decided to stay at a B&B about an hour outside of Portland in Kittery where the Outlet Malls are (we were within walking distance to the mall).

On my birthday we went to one of the beautiful beaches along the coast (I can't remember which one) and we shopped at The Yarn Sellar. I had seafood for both lunch and dinner (MMMMM!!!!). In the evening we did some outlet shopping, but only had 2 hours so we didn't actually get a lot done. (I hit Old Navy and got an awesome argyle cardigan in pinks and green Oh my!). We did the rest of the outlets on our last day and then drove all the way back home.

Here are some highlights:

Beautiful sunset on Casco Bay.
There was a spinning wheel in my B&B room. (hehe)

Knitting on the beach.

I did a lot of yarn shopping because I set out to buy most of my yarn for Xmas knitting (everyone is getting something knitted this year, yes I'm that crazy). Here is the haul:

Berroco Ultra Alpaca in (l-r) Plum Mix, Salt & Pepper, Cardinal, Peat Mix, & Winter White.
The purple and green are to be the Icewine Mittens for my Aunt and the rest I just had to have.
Cascade 220 in green for a hat for my cousin.
Rowan Felted Tweed in Phantom for a hat for my brother's bday.
Some Baby Cashmerino in blue for my mom for gloves and the red is mine.

Plymouth Galway Colornep for Koolhaas hats for JF's parents and Galway Paint for some felted slilppers for my grandmother and JF's grandmother.
Berroco Touché for an Anouk for our friends baby girl.
Sock yarn (l-r) Oasis Aussi Sock in grey for my dad, Colinette Jitterbug in October Afternoon for myself (I just loved the colours) & Jojoland Melody superwash for me(interesting and cheap).

My birthday also brought an awesome gift from Robyn. I only photographed the yarn but included was also some awesome Sheep themed oven mitts and pot holders, some candles, a couple of interesting drink mixes, a wip/notions pouch and this awesome pendant:

from http://jessejanes.etsy.com
the yarn. Some lovely green mystery merino and Colinette Jitterbug in Ginger cinnabar (I was eyeing this in her shop).

Thanks so much Robyn I love it all!

Finished Baby Sweater, Hat and Booties

2008-08-22T16:00:00.004-05:00

I finally finished the baby sweater that I was knitting and I decided to knit a matching Hat and 2 pairs of booties as well to make a cute set.

Details:
Sweater

Pattern: Baby Sweater on Two Needles (February) by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy - Some Summer Sky
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm
Made for: Éloïse
Timeline: July 9th, 2008 - Aug 15th, 2008
Modifications: Did sleeves in the round

Hat

Pattern: February Baby Hat by teeweewonders
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy - Some Summer Sky
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm
Made for: Éloïse
Timeline: Aug 15th, 2008 - Aug 22nd, 2008
Modifications: None
Bootees

Pattern: Mary Jane Saartje's by Starry
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy - Some Summer Sky
Needles: US 2.5 / 3.0 mm
Made for: Éloïse
Timeline: Aug 22nd, 2008 - Aug 22nd, 2008
Modifications: For the bigger pair I cast on more stitches and followed everything else.

I actually did enjoy knitting this sweater once it stopped kicking my ass.

JF's birthday cake

2008-07-30T11:49:00.005-05:00

I totally forgot to post about the cake I made. I decided to have a surprise birthay party for JF since he spent his actual birthday in Japan. He has an affinity for lego, it's a childhood thing he didn't have much of an exciting/fun childhood but lego was the one thing he remembers that he loved. Today he still buys the expert sets, and it allows him to connect with his inner child which is never a bad thing. I found the recipe here. Here are the pics of my version:

It was really fun to make and it took a little time but the result was worth it. Everyone was amazed. The blue was really bad for staining the teeth and tongue but otherwise excellent. If you have a lego lover in your family I recommend this recipe.

Random New Stash

2008-07-23T16:16:00.007-05:00

I'm really bad about blogging about my new stash purchases. I don't even think about it. I did the photography for a bunch of new stuff I had bought and I realized that I should also blog about it. Some of this stuff I've had for months.

First is some Rowan Summer Tweed, I traded this with Jessie for some of the stitch markers that I sell at Ariadne. (I do plan on getting them in an etsy shop as well, I just haven't found the time for that yet).

Colourway: Dew (it has flecks of blue, yellow and pink)

I got the June Sock Club from Robyn's Nest, and even though everyone has already seen this yarn because of the fact that the Yarn Harlot blogged about it, I will still show you it.

Next is the yarn that JF brought back from Japan for me. He really didn't know what to get and wasn't about to buy a lot cause maybe he would make a mistake on colour or fibre content so he just brought 1 ball. It is very nice though.

Munswell Merino 150 Queen. It's 40g of 100% superwash merino. It's sockweight so I will probably find another sockweight yarn in brown or white to go with it.

As is probably getting a little obvious, I'm getting a little obsessed with Dream in Color yarn. I loved the way my Monkey socks knit up and decided that I had to get myself more of the yarn. I got the following three colours.

Happy Forest - destined to be socks for me.

Pansy GoLightly - destined to be socks for my grandmother for xmas.

Some Summer Sky - already being made into a Baby sweater.

I was craving a semi-solid pink yarn and I wasn't loving either of the Dream in Color pinks and then Robyn showed me this:

Colinette Jitterbug - Whirlyfig

And last but definitly not least is some Frog Tree Alpaca singles. I wanted to try a 100% alpaca yarn after my problems with Mohair. I really hope I am not allergic because I have enough Warani (50% alpaca, 50% merino) for a sweater. This will probably become yet another pair of fair isle mittens.

It is possible that I've forgotten some things but if you want to see everything in my stash click here to see my stash (Ravelry link)

Briggs and Little Tuffy

2008-07-23T16:16:00.004-05:00

So I promised that I would blog about the Briggs and Little Tuffy that I bought while I was in Newfoundland. I kept forgetting to photograph it but finally remembered late last week.

Here it is:

Instead of showing a pic of all of them seperately I decided to do it like this. From bottom left:
Oatmeal, Smoke, Oxford, Cocoa, Blue Mix, Blue Jeans, Anniversary Twist (not Tuffy), Ecru, Red Mix and Forest Green.

The skein of Anniversary Twist is the same lot as my CPH because I bought it at the same store. She was still running the $1.50 a skein as long as you buy 2 other skeins. I couldn't resist. The rest was bought a little all over the place wherever I could find it. I figure this will become a couple of nice pairs of fair-isle socks & mittens.

February Baby Sweater

2008-07-23T16:15:00.006-05:00

So I know I should be updating more, but I really do have an excuse, I hadn't been knitting much and then over the weekend my computer decided it was going to die. Luckily I had done a backup as I was preparing for a reformat. Now that I am once again functional I can post some progress.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have another baby to knit for. JF's best friend & wife are having a baby so I decided to try the February Baby Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman. This pattern and I do not get along. Don't get me wrong the pattern is written correctly but EZ's simple style is apparently too simple for this knitter. I frogged the yoke 3 times before finally getting it right. (Note to self: 4 ridges = 8 rows). I know this but my brain kept processing 4 rows.

Here is my progress now that it finally looks like something.

The sweater is knit from the top and you are supposed to do the sleeves flat but I decided that I didn't really want to seam lace.

Close-up of Gull lace pattern.

Now that it's working I'm really liking the pattern. I'm a little worried that it will be small but I'm gonna block the crap out of it and hope for the best. I'm using Dream In Color Smooshy in colourway Some Summer Sky.

The Little Birdie

2008-07-05T00:13:00.004-05:00

I decided that I would start another project with my Mohair scarf gone. At first I was going to do the Norwegian Mittens by Elizabeth Zimmermann but I can't seem to find my copy of The Knitters Almanac. This probably just means that my office got hungry cause it's a really big mess in here. I joined the bandwagon that is the Bird in Hand mittens and while it is not technically my first fair-isle project, it is the first fair-isle project since I've become a more experienced knitter (my very first knitting project was fair-isle, because I absolutely wanted a pair of snowflake mittens, they were acrylic and I only ever did one). I am enjoying it, although the braid did kick my ass at first, once I actually read the instructions properly I had no more worries.

Here is my progress:

I haven't actually knit much on it since I took these pictures a few days ago, but then again, I won't actually need them for at least a few months. I'm thinking about getting started on Christmas gifts. Also I have a few more babies I want to knit for.

In other news, check out my Meez on the sidebar and tell me what you think.. (Click on my blog link if you're looking at this in Bloglines). It might not stay for a long time, because I am thinking about getting a logo designed.

WIPs june

2008-06-29T14:13:00.007-05:00

Ok, so I'm finally caught up. More or less anyway.

As I mentioned a little earlier, JF is now away in Japan and has been for almost 2 weeks. I can't wait till he's back cause it really sucks being alone all day and night. The bright side of this is that is has allowed me to drive a lot more than I ever thought I would. You see back in April we invested in a new car. We decided together that it would be an automatic because I find the manual transmission to be unnecessarily complicated. I hadn't gotten to drive much because JF wanted me to get some practice while I was in Newfoundland (which I did) and then he would add me to the insurance. When I got back he kept forgetting to do it and we just kept putting off getting me to drive. When we found out that he would be going to Japan for 3 weeks we put everything into motion for me to get as much practice as possible so that I would be free to use the car while he was gone. I kind of thought that I would be the kind of person that just didn't like to drive. Apparently it was just because I really had never practiced enough. Since he's been gone I've even driven in Montreal and on the highways and I'm actually starting to enjoy myself while driving.

Anyway this is a knitting blog so I'll update you guys all on that. The first bit of knitting news is an FO which is actually a little older but it had to wait until a certain baby showed his face to the world. First of all I'd like to Congratulate Robyn on a second beautiful boy; Who I am falling in love with.

I also made Mackenzie a Trellis set:

Next is a very disappointing WIP now traded project due to an apparent mohair allergy.

I absolutely loved this and although I'm not sure I would've been able to wear it due to extreme warmth, I really enjoyed it and was enjoying knitting it as well. Unfortunately I realized while knitting it that my allergies were going crazy and it was the only thing that had changed. As soon as I stopped knitting it my allergies went back to normal as well. Fortunately I was able to give this to a good knitting friend, Madeleine (ravelry), who liked the colours, the yarn and the design.

Finally I decided to finally cast on Mona's Embossed Leaves (ravelry). I've been meaning to knit this pattern for a while, I just never got around to doing it. A while back I had bought some Cherry Tree hill from the girls at Ariadne in Mint Green. So I decided to cast on for my very own Embossed Mint Leaves socks!

I'm liking how they're knitting up, I am not liking the fact that I can't seem to memorize the pattern, but it's ok because they're knitting up fast despite this.

I'll leave you with a picture of Mackenzie and I since he is so darn cute.

Sheepie

2008-06-18T13:30:00.003-05:00

I have been in love with Jennie's Ozark Lester since the very first time I saw him. There was only one problem; there was no way I was going to spend $26 +taxes to make a toy. At some point I was talking to Jennie and she said that pretty much any worsted bouclé would work and that I'd just have to double the yarn (hold two strands together). This made me very happy, because in my early knitting days I had an incredible affinity for crappy acrylic bouclé yarns (think bernat bouclé and baby bouclé). I figured this would be a decent stash busting project. I will have to make about 20 of them to use it all up but they make excellent baby gifts and since just about everyone I know is pregnant right now, it couldn't be better timing.

Here is Bernat Bouclé Lester Version 1:

Stats:

Pattern: Ozark Lester by Jennie Eveleigh-Lamond
Yarn: Bernat Bouclé - White &
Susan Andrew Collection Inca Gold Marra - Black
Needles: US 11 / 8.0 mm & US 2.5 / 3 mm dpns
Made for: ?? he has not yet been adopted
Timeline: June 5th, 2008 - June 18th, 2008
Modifications: Yarn choices

Now he needs a name. Any suggestions?

White Shrug

2008-06-11T13:24:00.002-05:00

I did some shopping for a truly white summer cardigan/shrug/bolero. I bought a few dresses this summer that I would prefer to have a little coverage with and went frantically shopping for something that would do. Everything I found was either too expensive or too off-white.

Finally I decided that I as a knitter could knit one. The only problem was that I was already at the point where I wanted it two weeks ago. I found a pattern, picked a yarn and swatched (I even washed the swatches) in the space of 2 days. After that It took me only 3 days to knit.

The result was worth it. I will possibly make it again:

The back view awesome pic thanks to Robyn

Side View

Front View. I don't love this pic, but it looks nicer with the dresses.

Stats:

Pattern: Fiery Bolero (ravelry) by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Estelle Young Touch Cotton DK - 5 skeins - White
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm metal circs
Made for: Me
Timeline: June 7th, 2008 - June 11th, 2008
Modifications: Shorter sleeves
Fastest FO ever!

Apple Monkeys

2008-06-06T13:28:00.003-05:00

I really love the Monkey pattern, but when I saw that someone had knit the purls, I realized that I liked that even more. I bought some Dream in Color - Smooshy from Robyn's Nest in Chinatown Apple, I really like the way it's a variegated yarn but at the same time it's all in the same colour family. Also I decided that I wanted to make the soles in reverse stockinette because I don't particularly like the way purl bumps feel on my feet (I've got particularly sensitive/ticklish feet).

Here the result:

Socks on Robyn's sock blockers

Close up on the Purl bottom.

Stats:

Pattern: Monkey Socks
(No Purl Monkeys by Craftypancakes - ravelry) (Pattern by Cookie A.)
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy - 1 skein - Chinatown Apple
Needles: US 2 / 2.25 mm bamboo dpns &US 1.5 / 2.5 mm Addi Turbo
I did one on dpns and one on the circular.
Made for: Me
Timeline: April 5th, 2008 - June 6th, 2008
Modifications: Purl sole, eye of patridge heel.
Took longer than it should have because I did quite a few other projects in between.

I love them a lot and will probably make another pair in another Smooshy colour.

Yarn Harlot

2008-06-05T13:46:00.003-05:00

Robyn, her sister Amy, Jenna and I decided to head to Kingston on Wednesday to see the Yarn Harlot. She seems to be skipping Montreal this time around and we wanted to get our books signed. Robyn's friend Marga met us there from New York state.

Robyn and I had decided that we were bringing her bagels and squeaky poutine cheese. (She really enjoys these two things). Because of this we got blogged.

I bought the books that were available and got them signed and I also got a chance to take a few photos.

I got to hold the sock!!!

The Yarn Harlot while speaking

I got this one after she signed my book. You can see the cheese and the bagels beside her!

It was a really fun day and I got to have some of the best nachos (in a restaurant) that I have had in a really long time. We also got to go to Michaels and I didn't actually get that much of anything.

JF's Socks

2008-06-03T13:28:00.004-05:00

I had promised JF a second pair of socks. I didn't give him a date per se so when I was in Newfoundland I decided to secretly start knitting him a pair for his birthday.

After seeing Robyn's version (ravelry link) of the cabled socks that she knit for her husband, I decided that I also wanted to make them for JF.

I started them on May 1st and finished them on June 2nd. I can't believe how fast they knit up especially considering I wasn't 100% faithful to them.

Stats:

Pattern: Cabled Socks from Steppin' Out (ravelry) (Pattern by Mona Schmidt)
Yarn: Phildar Preface - 2 Skeins - gris moyen
Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm Addi Turbo
Made for: JF for his birthday
Timeline: May 1st, 2008 - June 2nd, 2008

I think they're beautiful. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to give them to him. I decided that since he wouldn't be here for his birthday that he would get them right away. He is spending 3 weeks in Japan on business at the end of June, beginning of July. They were a success he has already worn them a few times and it's summer, so I think that means he likes them.

Botanical Gardens

2008-05-18T13:44:00.005-05:00

The Montreal Botanical Gardens are apparently amazing. I have never gone in the right season. I've only ever visited at the end of Winter and at the beginning of Fall when there are no more flowers left.

We went a little early and I will therefore probably want to go again, cause of course not everything blooms at once.

Here are some of the highlights from my visit:

Some of the Tulips

1 of many Crabapple trees

Close-up of Crabapple flowers

I thought this was so beautiful

Irises. One of my favourites.

The stars of the show. The Lilacs were in full bloom and they smelled delicious.

Bleeding Hearts

Orchids (Inside)

Orchids again.

The crabapple trees and the lilacs where really the nicest part of it, in my opinion. I just love the way they both smell so nice. The flowers are just so dainty.

Check out the rest of my pictures here

Newfoundland Trip

2008-05-09T13:11:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I'm not gonna bother to apologize for not posting for 2 months, I'm just gonna do it. I will however apologize for the fact that I'm about to do 10 posts in the span of 24 hours.

I actually tried to post while in Newfoundland, but the Internet in my hometown is over-used and therefore stupidly slow. I couldn't get my pictures uploaded so I just gave up. It wasn't as exciting a trip as the last few, and that is ok. I really need a vacation where the only thing distracting me was the sound of the ocean.

The highlight of my trip was the fact that my dad bought me my very own lobster, he was a little small but it was just right. Usually I only get the legs and claws from the lobster he buys for himself.

One of my best friends from highschool is pregnant again so I decided to make her a little outfit for her baby. I made Trellis from knitty and designed a hat to go with it.

This same friend is now a hair stylist so when I go home I get her to do my hair, cause it's so much cheaper because it's a small town. She put in some blonde and red highlights.

While I was there my brother celebrated his birthday, it was my parents anniversary and mother's day was just after I left. We decided to go out for a family supper to celebrate everything all at once.

On the way back to the airport we saw a caribou. He's smallish and has no antlers because it was spring.

I enjoyed my trip and I also scored some Briggs and Little Tuffy while I was there in all the colours I could find. I didn't photograph them but I will and post a picture sometime later.

Farm Visit

2008-04-21T22:39:00.004-05:00

So I realized that I forgot to blog about my day at JF's aunt's little farm. His mom visits her sister at her small farm from time to time and she had mentioned that they'd recently acquired 3 agneaux (lambs). I got quite excited and so she decided to invite me one day to "les nourir aux biberons" (They are being fed with bottles, biberon is baby bottle in French. Needless to say I was quite excited at the prospect. They also have a few horses and a cow. Here are a few highlights from the day.

First we fed the little guys

Then we took them outside for a little sun

Then we visited and fed some horses

I took a really neat picture

And met Mrs. Cow

the geese were apparently coming back for summer

We also met a very friendly barn cat

She wanted me to take a close up (Taken upside down while she was walking through my legs)

I really enjoyed my day, and the feeding of the lambs was awesome! It totally made my week!

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm leaving for Newfoundland on Thursday and will be staying until May 8. Hopefully I will score some nice stuff like I did last summer!

FOs

2008-04-11T15:27:00.004-05:00

So I officially suck at keeping this up to date, but I really haven't been doing much but knitting and I'm not a big progress pic person. I have however finished a few projects and started a couple more. I might have to start making a list.

My first distraction was designing the March sock for Robyn's Nest's Sock Club. I only made one sock due to time contstraints but I will eventually finish the pair for myself.

I loved the yarn and wanted to do something Paddy's Day related, so the lace resembles little four-leaf clovers.

Next I got distracted by a series of hats, you saw the Newfoundland Hat in the previous post, which i have yet to figure out the pattern for, I will do it, I just need to stop knitting for a few minutes first.

The first of the hats is:

Montreal Tuque by Veronik Avery

I cast on more stitches because I did it in a sock weight/sport yarn (Reynolds Soft Sea Wool).

Next came

Purl Beret with Sparkly Cherry Tree Hill Alpaca.

I saw one made in the same yarn at Ariadne, I chose another colour and I really like it. I will be for next winter, because its mostly too warm for me to wear a hat now.

After all the hat distraction I put my ass in gear and finished my Central park Hoodie -sans Hood.

I needed 1 more full ball of Anniversary Twist than I had and a little bit of a second to finish the collar. I still have over 100g left (113g balls). I like it fine, even though it's not quite as long as I thought it would be (stupid belly) and it does some weird bunchy thing on the bottom button that I don't know how to fix. It's not as itchy as I would have imagined, I've actually managed to wear it with a tshirt without too much issue. I've been wearing it almost every day, as it works perfectly for a cool spring weather coat, as long as there's not too much wind. Overall, I feel its a job well done for my first sweater.

I thought I would need a break after finishing my largest project ever but the next day I cast on a pair of no purl Monkeys:

I'm making them in Dream in Color Smooshy, Chinatown Apple. I'm loving the way its only slightly variegated and doesn't pool. I'm doing a eye of partridge heel and the bottom of the foot is reverse stockinette so that I don't feel the purl bumps on my sensitive feet.

My yarn stash has grown quite extensively over the past while and I will blog about at least some of that a little later.

In other news, I'm planning a trip to Newfoundland at the end of April for 2 weeks. I was originally planning on going in the summer, but it seems that sales for the summer will probably not happen early enough for my tastes. Hopefully I'll come back with some more yarny goodness.

Newfoundland hat

2008-02-28T00:01:00.004-05:00

I decided that I wanted to make a hat to match my black newfoundland mittens. I didn't want to do the whole top of the hat in black like the mittens, since that's my least favourite part of the mittens. So I figured if i made my decreases in multiples of 6 in the second of the purl rounds, that it would work out. (pattern repeat is a multiple of 6). What I didn't think of is that it throws the layout of the pattern off, its not too bad cause its mostly on the top of my head anyway.

Here it is:

I will post the pattern a little later, I have to figure out some calculations and maybe make some mods to make the decreases less wonky.

My other projects have pretty much been stalled, cause I really wanted to figure the hat out. I did knit a few rows on the CPH since my last post, but not much, the second pair of newfoundland mitts advanced a little bit too, I'm almost at the thumb.

But I was working on the March sock pattern for Robyn's Nest. Don't forget to get yours, you have until friday.

New Projects

2008-02-22T23:40:00.003-05:00

So I finally finished my test knitting for Mona, and I'm so relieved. For about a week I barely knit upon completion cause I just didn't feel like knitting after such a challenge and then I spent a couple of afternoons browsing ravelry and found a few more things that I plan to make.

I had acquired some Anniversary Twist by Briggs and Little while I was in Newfoundland last summer and I was trying to figure out what I could possibly do with it since I didn't really know if I liked the colour or not. Upon browsing ravelry for ideas I saw that a 2 people had done the Central Park Hoodie in this yarn and it looks really nice, see here (ravelry link). I cast on and here is my progress:

I also cast on another pair of Newfoundland Mittens. To use up the kureyon that I originally bought for the first pair but ended up being too dark with the black. I decided to use it with the Briggs and Little Sheep's grey that I bought while in Newfoundland. So far it is working out nicely:

Don't forget that I'm designing the March Sock for Robyn's Nest so if you haven't already done so get over there and order yourself one. You can even order one for all your knitting friends!!

New yarn

2008-02-22T20:15:00.004-05:00

As Caroline already mentioned on her blog, Veronik wanted to destash a little so she called upon a few of us to help her out. I can't say no to free yarn (although I was careful only to take stuff that I will use.

Here's some of what I got:

Cone of blue 100% wool, about 400g.

Various Alpaca blends (I ♥ Alpaca)

Two balls of Patons UpCountry to go with the One ball I already had, I'm pretty sure that one ball was from Veronik as well.

I also got a few one ball yarns that I will try out and use to compliment other yarns that I have. As well as some rainbowy sock yarn that had half a sock attached to it.

That same day I headed to Ariadne, since I wouldn't be able to attend their Valentines Day sale due to being in Québec. One of my favourite yarns that they carry is going to be no longer available so I'd decided that I needed some. Preferably enough to make something substantial. I already had a few balls in a few different colours so I was thinking that I'd just buy more of those colours. This didn't workout however because they didn't have the colours left. So I found a bag of 10 balls in a nice teal colour with the 4 balls of the same colour that were on the shelf and I bought them. It was a rather large investment for me, but I really like the yarn and I decided to treat myself, since I'm getting a nice tax return this year. Here she is in all her glory:

Susan Andrew Collection Warani.

Due to my tax return I also made an order on Knit Picks for the yarn for Thermal as well as a few other non-yarn purchases. I will post photos when it arrives.

Stay tuned for my new ongoing projects.

Found: One green cabled hat

2008-02-22T20:01:00.004-05:00

I couldn't be happier! The green hat is no longer missing. It was sitting atop my dresser (higher than my line of vision), next to a similarly coloured purse. It was just hiding. YAY!

Carnaval du Québec

2008-02-19T20:03:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we went to Québec city to check out the Winter carnival. This year they are also celebrating Quebec city's 400 birthday, so it's more special than other years.

Here are some highlights:

Chateau Frontenac from the Lévis-Quebec ferry

The Ice Palace

The most interesting of the Snow sculptures. A Beaver and a Fleur de Lys hugging.

The Star of the Show

There were a lot more snow sculptures, you can see them here.

It was a fun weekend although another knit free weekend (there was just no time).

FO

2008-02-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

I finished my mittens!!!! They knit up so quickly, once I got the yarn and needle size right anyway. Although even with those problems it took me less than two weeks to finish them. Here they are:

Specs:
Pattern: Newfoundland Mitts (pattern available here)
Yarn: Briggs and Little Regal (black) & Noro Silk Garden
Needles: US 4 / 3.5 mm & US 5 / 3.75 mm
Timeline: Jan 30th to Feb 10th

To make them more matchy, you would need to use two skeins of silk garden. I played with the yarn a bit to make these at least slightly matchy but not too much.

I love these mitts and will probably be making a few more pairs. Just not right away because as you may already know, I am designing the March sock for the Sock Club at Robyn's Nest. So I need to concentrate on that for a bit. Please buy a kit!!!

Recent Knitting

2008-02-08T02:07:00.000-05:00

So for the last little while I've been working on a test-knitting pattern so there hasn't been a whole lot of blogable knitting, hence the lack of blogging. Recently however, I lost my beautiful green hat (it might still be in the apartment but I can't find it). This meant that I needed an ear covering and fast. I didn't really have the time to devote to making another one, even though it is a quick knit, but I needed something to prevent my ears from falling off so I made Calorimetry

I used some yarn that Robyn had destashed at some point and knit it up while watching a movie. I used some Lego pieces from JF's Lego stash for the closure, I got the idea on Ravelry from someone else who had made it. Here she is:

I also fell upon a pattern that reminded me of my childhood, I remember these mittens and they were aptly named Newfoundland Mittens so I just couldn't resist. I cast them on and started with Noro Kureyon, but the colours just weren't coming out like I wanted, so I switched to the silk garden I had sitting in my stash. As of last night I was ready to do the hand decreases and tonight while knitting at Ariadne I finished the first one. I will post a picture of the finished mitt later, I haven't photographed it yet.

I have almost finished the secret project so hopefully I will resurface and get a little better at this blogging stuff.

In non-knitting news, I am no longer working at my thankless job, and I am quite happy about that (it's been two months, but I just kept forgetting to talk about it). I hope to get back into web programming or maybe do a switcho changeo and get into teaching. I'd probably teach English because there is a big shortage of English teachers in Quebec. Also if ever I leave Québec, I'll be able to teach French. I haven't quite figured out all the details, and am very much in limbo right now. Hopefully things will start to clear up on that front, but for now, I'm quite happy to sleep in 'til noon and knit my days away.

Winterlude

2008-02-08T01:15:00.000-05:00

So as long as I can remember I've wanted to skate on the Rideau Canal. I remember seeing it in one of my text books as a fairly young kid in Primary school and thinking "WOW"!.

I've thought about it pretty much every year since I've lived in Montreal (I'm on my fourth winter here). Usually it's too late and last year it apparently wasn't skateable. This year I thought about it ontime, and JF and I decided to go during their annual winter festival, Winterlude.

The Canal was awesome, aside from a few rough patches caused by flooding earlier in the week. But for the most part was very nice. Here are some highlights:

Skating the Canal

Beavertails!!!

JF on the canal

One of many ice sculptures (to see more click here)

Us @ Parliament Hill

We had beavertails which is the thing to do, even though you can get them all over in Québec. And we visited parliament we even got to go inside, they were having an open house. We got to see the beginning of the ice sculpture competition which was excellent because on Day 2 they were already starting to melt a little. click here to see more of the sculptures as well as the rest of our trip pics. There were a few really awesome ones.

Overall it was a really excellent weekend, and I got to visit one of my favourite restaurants (Swiss Chalet) since they don't have any in Québec. There was no knitting as I decided to let JF have a weekend were I was all his.

post christmas

2008-02-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

So I'll start where I left off, since there are some of you that are giving me hell about not updating.

We spent the holiday's with JF's family mostly in Lévis (near Québec city). JF's grandfather loved his socks here is a finished pic of them:

They fit really well which was very important cause he has some circulation issues and is very sensitive to even slightly tight socks.

Ever since I've been in Montreal I've been making a whole dory-load (sorry for the Newfoundland reference it just came out) of Christmas cookies. This year I tried so hard to limit my amounts because I always make myself sort of sick I work so hard. Here are some of this years cookies (a few batches were done at the last minute and not photographed).

No knitting was done at all over christmas. I was working on a test knitting project that can't really be blogged anyway, but I left it behind with a few gifts that we also forgot so it really didn't advance. Since then I've almost finished it despite a few brick walls that got in the way (hurdle is too nice).

In other news my kitten is no longer a kitten. He's so fat and huge. He's not even a year old and he's 13lbs. Check it out:

and just to refresh our memories, here he is on the first day I had him:

I have just two questions; How did this happen and why couldn't he have stayed that small and cute? :o(

Christmas Decorations

2007-12-20T22:46:00.000-05:00

So generally I'm pretty festive and I really enjoy decorating at Christmastime. This year was a little extra special cause I made some of my own decorations and I made all my cards (which I forgot to take pictures of :o( )

Last year I had seen some transparent Christmas balls and I really wanted to get them. We were on a really tight budget so I didn't buy them but vowed that I would have them this year. I figured I could decorate them by filling them with tradition decorations.

Here are the results:

Red Star Garland

Gold Bead Garland

Gold Tinsel Garland

Bernat Cotton Christmas

Red and Gold Wire

Red and Gold beads

Red Tafetta

Christmas fabric covered

Candy Striped yarn

Red, Gold and Green beads (stars and regular)

Gold Star Garland

Red and Gold seed beads (where praying this one doesn't break)

Red Tinsel Garland

The result looks a little something like this:

I also included a couple of knitted items but I didn't have a whole lot of time so I only managed two, but I know that I will be doing more of these in the future.

Mini Mitten

Mini Sock

We will be spending Xmas with JF's family once again this year (4th year in a row). This means that I haven't been home for Xmas in 4 years as well. I can't wait till next year I'm going no matter what.

Stash Enhancements

2007-12-19T00:22:00.000-05:00

Upon taking the pictures, I realized just how much new yarn I've acquired recently, here it is, in all it's glory:

Louet Gems for a nice pair of fair isle mittens (Robyn's Nest)

Lorna's Laces - Gold Hill (Ariadne)

Marra to go with the green I have (Ariadne)

Warani to use in fair isle with the Marra I already have (Ariadne)

Georgie 100% Wool (Walmart)

Luxury Alpaca Silk (Mouliné)

The Ariadne girls recently opened a brick and mortar store and they had their first Knit Nite last thursday. I just couldn't resist a few things, especially with my Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket.

In other knitting news. I've been knitting socks for my boyfriends grandfather for Christmas and I just haven't bothered to take a picture, they're at the heel now but in dark charcoal so theres not much to show.

cable hat

2007-11-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

So its been really cold here in Montreal, much earlier than usual this winter. So I decided to knit myself a hat because I was in desperate need of one.

Specs:
Cabled Watch Cap from Knit Simple Magazine, Winter 2006/07

Yarn: Zara Plus in Grasshopper.

It's kind of loose after wearing it a couple of times, so I'm thinking about sewing some elastic thread into the brim. It slides up my head, my mass of hair doesn't help.

SP Package #3

2007-11-14T18:55:00.001-05:00

So I got my final SP package, and my pal is awesome. I got spoiled by Tanya who's a martimer like myself. She spoiled me so good!

Here are the goods:

Awesome socks done in a pattern by her

The rest of the goods, the above pattern, plus another sock pattern by her, some nova scotia tea, and some awesome sea sock wool from Fleece Artist.

In other news I finished the mittens for my mitten swap and they were sent to my pal. I'll post pictures when I know my pal has received it. Now I'm on to gift knitting, I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew but I'll do my best to finish all my projects.

Mitten Swap package

2007-11-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

So I got my mitten swap package from the lovely Kristo, here are the goods:

The mittens are so nice and fuzzy with such nice Gem colours.

Here's the other awesome goodies I got:

I just love the two little sheep who are named Ebony and Ivory! Here's a closer look at them.

I will be putting the needle case to good use because I'm such a scatter brain with my needles, they're everywhere and I keep loosing them. There was also chocolate in the package, but it didn't survive very long.

Moutain Knitting

2007-10-31T16:52:00.000-05:00

Ok. I've been a bad blogger once again. I feel like it's been very hectic lately, although at the same time, I don't feel like I've done much. I never could understand that phenomenon.

So 2 weekends ago me and JF decided to hike up a small mountain. Mont-St-Hilaire which is south of Montreal. I wasn't so sure about that since I haven't really been active too much lately due to being diagnosed with Sleep Apnea a few months ago. It was one of those warm-ish autumn days that was just beautiful. I'm so glad I agreed to go cause I love the fall colours and I hadn't really taken it in this year. Here are some highlights:

twisty mountain trail

view from the top!

I'm the queen of the world

Not a huge mountain but still good for someone as inactive as me

I only knit about a row on the mountain, but I decided it was just something I had to do. If I was going to hike up a moutain, then I was going to knit when I got to the top.

Overall it was a beautiful day with beautiful fall colours and I'm pretty darn proud of what I accomplished.

1.5 FOs

2007-10-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

I finished a few things this weekend and I'm pretty proud:

JF's Montreal Tuque

Stats:
Pattern: Montreal Tuque by Veronik Avery from Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion's Archives
Yarn: 3 skeins of Cascade 220 in 3 different colours
Needles: 3.75mm/5US
Timeline: Sunday October 7th, 2007 - Monday, October 8th, 2007; fastest thing I ever knit.

I love it on him! He recently cut his hair very short and it's starting to get chilly here so I decided he needed a hat and pronto!

My Fingerless Gloves with Petite Cables

Stats:
Pattern:Fingerless Gloves with Petite Cables by Andra Asars
Yarn: 1 skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca light in Turquoise mix
Needles: 3.25mm/5US
Timeline: Thursday October 3rd, 2007 - Tuesday October 9th, 2007 for 1 glove.. 2nd will be put on hold for a bit.

I love alpaca! I only have one done for now and I need to stop knitting these for now cause I have to do my mitten swap mittens.

I'm a little worried about these cause I've been wearing them for a few minutes and it's a little itchy which is very surprising since it's so soft to the touch.. Please don't let me be allergic to alpaca, I think I'll cry.

Anyway, enough for now, early day tomorrow.

Flash Your Stash

2007-10-05T10:05:00.000-05:00

So our SP hostess Robyn is holding a contest.

My stash is a big mishmash of yarn ranging from novelty dollar store, to really nice alpaca. Here it is in all it's glory:

The Acrylic stuff. Will possibly never be knit up.. Although I might start a blanket and donate it.

The mixed stuff, lots of cotton and some stuff from La Bobineuse. Even some old Reynolds 80% boucle wool.

The sock yarn

Most of my wool, mostly Briggs and Little and Cascade 220

Some of my nicer stuff, its a mix of cotton, mohair, linen and a lot of mixes.

I have a bit of an affinity for bouclé..

And on a non stash related note, check this little guy out.

I got him when I was in Newfoundland, my mom had received him as a free gift from somewhere, isn't he the cutest.

SP Package 2

2007-10-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

Secret Pal strikes again. Here's the loot.

London-Wul Mohair scarf kit

Felted Clogs, Mohair & ?? SP??

A silk purse that is the perfect size and contstruct for a sock bag, with a shoulder strap.

Beautiful cats eye stitch markers.

I love everything the colours are spot-on. THANK YOU SO MUCH SECRET PAL!!!. And also SP I do know where you are because the stamp that Canada Post puts on the parcel tells me the location it was sent from, the UPS notice had the same. So I know you're a maritimer like me.

In other news. The yarn that I won in Patty's contest arrived and it's just beautful. She picked the colours because of my blog and its perfect cause it's really the one I was wishing for.

Aside from that I've been knitting a lot. I haven't took any progress pictures yet, but It's on the way, I started JFs Here and There Cabled scarf, I started rusted root, and I restarted my Jaywalkers. I will try and post some progress pictures on the weekend.. Thank goodness for long weekends.

Vermont, NY and finished Monkeys

2007-09-25T11:16:00.000-05:00

So JF and I decided to take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar this past weekend and to head town to the US to do a little exploring and shopping. We decided to go the Burlington first and then take the ferry across to Plattsburg. I am very lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend because upon arriving in Burlington we took a wrong turn and JF saw a Michael's store and asked me if I wanted to go, It was on my plans for Plattsburg, but I gratefully accepted since he was offering. I got a few crafty things, some beads and a ball of Patons classic merino to go with the one I already have. Our next stop was KFC for lunch which I know just sounds awful, but they have boneless buffalo wings in the US at KFC and its my favourite thing since I dislike normal wings. After lunch we went to Kaleidoscope Yarns just outside of Burlington. It's a beautiful place, and there was so much choice, but I didn't want to buy yarn just to buy yarn cause my stash is getting a little out of control these days, so I wanted something small, that I could make something out of. I ended up getting this:

Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Turquoise Mix (so soft)

The ladies at Kaleidoscope were so friendly they even gave me a pattern for fingerless gloves to make with it. I also found the Winter 2005 issue of Interweave Knits, it features an exclusive interview with montreal's own Veronik Avery written by Lee Ann Balazuc and also features Mona Strickt's Embossed Leaves Socks, It also features a few patterns for now montreal based Kate Gilbert but she wasn't in Montreal then. I'd been wanting to get the pattern for Mona's sock anyway and since there was so much other Montreal talent in the magazine I decided to buy it.

There was another nice surprise waiting for me at the yarn shop, Norah Gaughan was visiting for the day. Which is very interesting since the next pattern I want to start is her Here and There Cables scarf from Scarf Style I got to see an actual version of it, making me want to make it even more. She let me take a picture with her!

Norah Gaughan and I

Next we went to the Church Street Marketplace and to the Burlington Town Centre and did a little more shopping, I got a few things, one of them was my new knitting bag.

I've been looking for a bag for a while, but I haven't been able to find one that fits all or even most of my needs. This one, while it doesn't have as many compartments as I would have like, is awesome, mostly because of the colours and motif, It even matches my blog!. After that we had Dinner at T.G.I.Friday's and then we took the ferry to Plattsburg and settled into our hotel for the night.

Sunday was much less eventful, since there is a lot less to do in Plattsburg. We went to a Walmart supercentre, and I've seriously never seen anything so big. They have a full fledged grocery store in Walmart. I got some koolaid packets that I plan to use to do some dyeing.

After a late lunch/early dinner we headed back and got through customs without a hitch (aside from the 1.5 hour wait). While in line I finished my 2nd monkey sock and now I finally have a pair. I hope my mom likes them.

After coming home I re-cast on my Jaywalkers. I still want to do them both at once so I will need to get another pair of dpns from Robyn. Hopefully it will go a little better this time.

I have so many things I want to make soon (Xmas is coming), and I've also signed up for Mitten Swap 3 so I need to make those as well.

To end on a very exciting note, I recently won a contest that Patty held, I'm getting some of her hand-dyed yarn. Woohoo!

Roxham Wool Gathering

2007-09-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I realize I'm a little tardy in this post, since it was over a week ago and everyone else who went has already talked about it. But that's just me and I never manage to blog things on time.

Robyn invited me to go with her on Sunday to the Roxham Wool Gathering in southern Québec right near the US border. It was nice but as Alison mentioned it wasn't really limited to wool and might have drawn a different crowd if marketed differently. I got myself some nice yarn, in merino/BFL mix, BFL = Blue Faced Leicester which I assume is a sheep. I've never used this before, but I'm told it's nice to work with. I love the colour.

I also saw my first sheep shearing, which I apprently didn't upload a picture of so I will steal one from Robyn who went there on Saturday and Sunday.

It was a very nice day overall, spent with fellow Montreal Knits gals Robyn, Kadi and Alison, also there was Kate and tadpole who was hanging out with Robyn's son Sean. (Sean seems to like older women) :o)

Sean was being quite the cutey patootie all day he even posed for me a couple of times:

The only problem with Roxham is that it made me want to see what Rhineback must be like, oh well, maybe next year.

Ravelry

2007-09-15T12:25:00.000-05:00

So I finally made it on to Ravelry, I'm faeriecrafty and it's every bit as addicting as I figured it would be. I'm having some issues with it. Glitchy things that I'm sure are related to some settings on my computer, but I can't figure out what it might be. First I couldn't get my profile pic up, and then I managed to upload it from work. I'm a little frustrated with it but at the same time am loving it.

Monkey progress

2007-09-10T19:06:00.002-05:00

I finally cast on for my second Monkey sock on the Labour Day weekend. Me and JF went to Lévis near Québec city to visit his grandparents and I knit in the car on the way there and on the way back. Since then I've managed to finish the leg and start the heel. Check it out!

I love this pattern, I find that the repeats are so easy to remember after just a couple of repeats; I've barely picked up the pattern for the 2nd sock. Hopefully they will be done soon and I can move on to JF's Here and There Cabled scarf along with other Christmas knitting (I knit slow and I want to knit a few gifts this year)

In other knitting news, the progress that I had blogged about here is no longer, I realized that at some point while I was knitting in Newfoundland I obviously was doing more talking that knitting and I'd managed to increase 1 side of 1 sock by 2 stitches, and this had been going on for a few rows. I wasn't really that happy about the way it was going on the 1 circular needle either, so I ripped it all out, and I will be starting over on dpns, or 1 sock on 1 dpn instead of both at once.

I'm starting to get a pretty impressive queue for my projects that I want to do, and I'm not even on Ravelry yet. I want to make a lot of hats and scarfs. I have been borrowing books from the library and coveting some patterns online. Right now the one that sticks out most is this one, Sarah from Montreal Knits is doing it in Noro Silk garden and it's just amazing. I love berets as there one of the only hats I can wear without looking like I have no hair, my hair is always short.

Speaking of Ravelry, as of this very instant there are only 40 people ahead of me, so I should probably get the invite tomorrow. Finally. I signed up on July 1st and forgot I did so, so I signed up again with another email address on August 9 and that email address is still showing 12189 people ahead of me.. OH BOY!

Tomorrow should be a fun day, except for the earlier part, I took the day off due to a orthodontists appointment and I'm going to spend some of my day with Robyn since we never get a chance to hang out in the day. More about that later, theres always a chance of there being more yarn..

Stash enhancement

2007-09-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

In the previous post, I talked about how having my own personal yarn pusher was going to be great... It is sooooo great. Check this out!!

Colinette Jitterbug in Raspberry (mmm... yummy yarny goodness)

Next I ordered some Cascade 220 from her.

that's 4 black in the back there, 4 heathers blue and 2 heathers green

This yarn will be knitting up into two scarves; Binary from knitty.com (black and green) and Here and There Cables from Scarf Style. (blue).

Robyn is not, however, my only yarn source, although if I can get it from her I will go with her, not only because she's my best friend but also because her prices are great.

On a recent trip to walmart, I acquired this eco-cotton, which I've seen a few times, and hesitated on since it has no yardage or manufacturer info, but for under $3 for 225g I couldn't resist.

During the week we had to go to the vet to get nugget fixed, and I knew there was a yarn store in the area so after we had dropped him off we went and I got something that I sent to my secret pal (which I can't post here just in case) and this lovely find:

That my friends is fiddlesticks laceweight in sage (50% merino and 50% silk).. OMG. I want to make a shawl with it. Although I have to find a nice pattern. Don't hesitate to leave suggestions if you have any.

That will be all for the yarn porn for tonight, I hope every one's enjoyed themselves :oP

Robyn's Nest

2007-09-03T19:07:00.000-05:00

I would like to congratulate Robyn on her latest undertaking;

Robyn's Nest

I have mixed feelings about all this, because she's my best friend and having a best friend with a yarn shop can be great, unless we're talking from the point of view of my wallet, and then it can hurt. I'm just kidding, I'm loving it. I do enjoy having my own personal yarn pusher, and I get to see the yarn in person before buying when I visit her!!! (Always a plus).

Briggs and Little

2007-09-01T23:39:00.000-05:00

So I already talked about how I found Brigg's and Little while in Newfoundland for very inexpensive. I was so excited, I could finally allow myself to buy enough yarn to make myself a sweater (even though I don't really wear sweaters). It'll probably turn into a vest or two, or possibly a very warm cardigan. Anyway.. lets get to the pictures!!

First up is Sheep's grey, which I consider to be kind of oatmeal-ey. A nice neutral.

Next is the Anniversary Twist, which for a limited time Brigg's and Little is offering for $1.50 for every two balls of regular priced yarn sold. Since I'd bought 10 of the Sheep's Grey I decided to take 5 of this beautiful mixed blue colour

When I got back to my hometown, there was a lot more of Brigg's and Little to be had and for even cheaper than I'd originally found it, but I decided to control my self since I had no idea what I could do with this much itchy-ish yarn. So I just bought what I hope is enough for a nice pair of traditional fair-isle mittens.

I hope to be able to get my hands on more of this stuff very soon, since I have recently learnt that they also have a sock weight (YAY!!)

Contest #2

2007-08-25T19:12:00.000-05:00

My Secret Pal hostess, Robyn, posted Contest #2 so here goes:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?
I'd think it would be my measuring tape, I measure a lot.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?
I try to always take knitting, even on short road trips, I knit in the car, on the place etc. This past year when I went to Newfoundland I took 3 projects with me. It's a really great place to knit.

3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
I haven't done as much travelling as I'd like, but my favourite spot will probably always be Newfoundland mostly because it's Home Sweet Home. Specifically the provincial park in my hometown with it's gorgeous beaches.

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
I recently borrowed Weekend Knits by Melanie Fallick from the library and I'm enjoying it thoroughly I don't own a lot of knitting books, I'm also eyeing Veronik Avery's book, because everyone is talking about it. I can't wait to see.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
I've never listened to a podcast.

6. If you could only knit with 1 color for the rest of your life, what color would that be?
Easily Pink.

7. If you were far into a project and then noticed a mistake near the beginning what would you do?
It really depends on the mistake, unless really huge and noticeable I'd probably leave it.

8. Where is the most unsual spot you've ever knit?
I think it would have to be at the Montreal Jazz festival, it's tough with that many people around.

SP11 Birthday Package

2007-08-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to me!

My secret pal officially rocks!!! As soon as she found out it was my birthday (1 week after the official start of SP11) she packed me up a package and sent it out. It's great, she says in her card (and I quote) "I didn't have much notice for your Bday so I've sent some of my own handspun" as if it was a bad thing. I'm so honoured to receive someone's handspun, I just imagine the work that went in to it.

Check out it and the other goodies:

So we have the handspun at the left. some yellow and pink fuzzy stuff (polwarth?) and some ribbon/ladder yarn that will definitely be a scarf, I also got a bath bomb, some milk bath powder in Milk Chocolate (mmmmmmm), and some lovely green crocheted beads.

Thank you so much Secret pal, I'm so spoiled!

Happy Early Birthday

2007-08-22T20:27:00.000-05:00

So I celebrated my birthday with Robyn and Kadi today and she is awesome by the way, for amongst other reasons:

Knitting themed pencil case!?!?(ewe-some :oP), Chocolate body truffles products, raspberry stuff, and best of all Socks that Rock in Chapman Springs (OMG)

Also a Tinkerbell lunchbag, and iron on transfer (I HEART TINKERBELL!!) and some really cool springy corn picks.

Thank you so much Robyn, you rock..

Kadi brought us little mini cakes, which were so good and so rich.. I love cake, especially when there's chocolate involved.

A while ago I spotted something that I wanted for my birthday, a little cupcake display like this:

JF got it for me.. YAY!! It's awesome. I love to make cupcakes, and I never have a nice way to display them when I take then somewhere. And now I do.

I also have to photograph the yarn I bought for myself with the birthday money my grandparents gave me. Briggs and Little, now that it's all wound, I'll photograph soon.. Promise.

Montgolfières

2007-08-19T23:43:00.000-05:00

Aug 10-19 is the Internation Hot-Air Balloon Festival in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC. Basically about 150 hot-air balloons take flight at about the same time, and this could happen twice a day for 9 days. It's pretty impressive:

There were a couple of special forms:

Monkey

Beaver

Turtle

Pirate in a Barrel

Rooster

A couple of really nice regular shaped ones:

We even got up close and personal with a few:

I even met a ladybug that seemed to like me a lot, which is great because I just love ladybugs.

I knit quite a bit, cause I'm on a knit for hire deadline. So there will be no pictures of it unfortunately, It is quite nice.

We got to see Denis DiYoung (Styx) perform, and I got to hear Mr. Roboto live by the original band, it was pretty funny (never thought I'd see that in my life)

If you'd like to see more of our folies, check out my photoalbum here

SP11 Questionnaire

2007-08-14T21:34:00.000-05:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love super wash Merinos, I can't knit with Angora, because i'm allergic to bunnies. I also dislike really really scratchy wools. I've yet to try knitting with cashmere and am dying to do so.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
A homemade needle case, two pencil cases for DPNs, and my extras are in a large purple vase. I hope to get another couple of fabric cases.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting since I was probably 9 or 10 when my grandmother taught me, but I've been knitting regularly for about 2.5 years after I moved to Montreal.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes there is not much there, but I will try and add a few more things. It can be found by searching my full name.

5. What's your favourite scent?
I really like vanilla and orange. I've been getting into the new "Fresh" scents like Green Tea, Cucumber and Aloe.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favourite candy?
I love chocolate, and marshmallow strawberries, most all candies, but I hate lemon and grape candies. I'm also a big fan of blue-raspberry.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I make hemp and beaded jewelry, I'd like to try scrapbooking, but haven't actually started yet. I do not spin, I barely have the time to knit these days.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like most kinds of music, I'm not a much of a fan of country, r&b, rap, hip-hop, I like most adult alternative stuff, and a lot of dance-techno-house music. Yes I'm MP3 capable.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love pinks(any shade) and greens(lighter). I highly dislike yellows, oranges, and browns. Most other colours I'm ok with.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am engaged, and I have a kitten who will soon be a cat.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Rarely, I'm a very warm person, so I usually find it too warm, although I do love scarves, hats and mittens (I've never warn a poncho), I just can't bear to wear them for long periods of time.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Right now, it's socks and mitten, both very quick and portable.

13. What are you knitting right now?
3 pairs of socks. Yeah knitting ADD, I know. Jaywalkers, Monkey and a knitting for hire project.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
I'd love to receive handmade gifts, I've never really received much in the way of handmade stuff.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I prefer circs, I find that straights get in the way. I like aluminum and bamboo the most, I find that most plastic needles are too sticky.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No, but I'd really love to own both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Really old, at least 2 years.

18. What is your favourite holiday?
I like xmas a lot, but pretty much any holiday is fun, especially if it's spent with family and friends.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
I love lady bugs, I've got a growing collection of them, the latest being a Hot-air balloon shaped one. Also lately I've been collecting knitting and sheep paraphernalia (other than actually knitting accessories).

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
No books, I have a lot of yarn envy, i'd like to try new hand-painted sock yarns, but nothing much specific, no specific patterns, I subscribe to Interweave. As for needles I'd love to try the interchangable needles everyone is talking about.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'm curious about steeking but it scares me to death. I want to master fair-isle. I need to do my first sweater and soon. I want to try dyeing my own yarn.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
yes I love sock knitting. I'm a size 8 ladies. (wideish)

23. When is your birthday?
August 23rd, thats soon! yay!

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
I finally got on.. I'm faeriecrafty

Gifts from The Rock

2007-08-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

I couldn't very well go to Newfoundland without bringing back a few gifts for Robyn and her little guy so I shopped a bit while I was there and found this cute little t-shirt for Sean:

It's probably going to be a little big, but at some point I'm sure he'll be able to wear it.

I got an awesome gift for Robyn as well first thing was some Cherry print fabric, some lobster coasters, since she was joking about me bringing her back some lobster. I never could have imagined I would find the best part of her gift though... Here he is... The Knitting Lobster:

He's the awesome-est.Apparently it's from a Newfoundland souvenir Christmas ornament collection, but what a better gift for a lobster loving knitter. I Hope she likes it.

Newfoundland Videos

2007-08-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

I took a couple of videos while I was home, mostly because it's really hard to depict the beauty of some things in pictures only. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Sunset on the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Burgeo, Newfoundland

Panoramic on Greep's Head at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Burgeo, Newfoundland

Panoramic on Maiden Tea Hill, Burgeo, Newfoundland

Ocean Waves on the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Burgeo, Newfoundland

Mr. Moose's Newfoundland Adventures... Part 2

2007-08-05T17:14:00.000-05:00

Hanging out on the beach

Another beach shot

And another (I think he liked the beach)

Rocky Beach

Again.

Hanging around in the fog. Finally he's dressed appropriately.

I really enjoyed taking pictures of him in Newfoundland, but he was a little lazy and didn't want to go on all of my excursions (truth is, I kept forgetting about him, I know, I suck). But we had lots of fun anyway. I'll probably keep this up in Quebec as well.

Yarn sign

2007-08-05T16:44:00.000-05:00

As promised I was able to get another much better picture of the sign with the yarn. Here it is:

Here's a close-up.

So cool! I was also able to confirm that it meant that you could buy Newfoundland Hand Knits and handmade crafts. We stopped at the local information centre on our way to the airport.

Mr. Moose's Newfoundland Adventures ... part 1

2007-07-26T22:46:00.001-05:00

Meet Mr. Moose, I found him at the Montreal Biodome, but he reminded me so much of home, since we have lots of moose and lot's of rain.

I decided that on my trip to NL I would pose him in scenic pictures since he fits in so well there. So here is the first installment of pics.

On a rocky hillside

On a walking trail

In a grassy field

Beside a beautiful evergreen

Near Sandbanks Pond

Playing in the sand

Check back for more adventures soon.

Home Sweet Home

2007-07-25T21:53:00.000-05:00

So we've been here almost a week now, and I've finally found a few minutes to sit down and blog. For the first 2 days I was here I was cut off from internet access, and then we lost a whole day traveling from my grandparent's house to my hometown. I've found a new appreciation for many things that I've seen a hundred times before, everything is so beautiful after you live in a huge city like Montreal and then return to rural Newfoundland. Our first stop was King's Point where my mom grew up, my grandparents still live there so we visited them first since they live a little closer to the airport than my parents.

Here is a beautiful scene from King's Point "out the bay..."

I did a little shopping while there and found some beautiful Briggs and Little yarn for way too inexpensive. I almost collapsed when I saw the price:

I bought enough to make a sweater, in the oatmeal colour at the right of the photo and then was told that for each 2 skeins bought I was entitled to 1 skein of their Anniversary Twist colourway for 1.50 each. So I bought 5. Its a scratchyish wool but after knitting a swatch to test for needle size I think I like it, it smells so raw and natural. I love it.

I also finished my first Monkey sock which has been claimed by my mom for skating socks (she skates in winter only)

The second sock will be on hold for a while as I have a paid project as well as my jaywalkers to advance on, especially since she doesn't really need them until winter.

After two days we travelled home to Burgeo on our way we stopped in Corner Brook where I went to school for 3 years. On our way there I saw this picture:

Huh?? is that a ball of yarn and knitting needles.

Yup.

It's a little hard to tell because we couldn't stop since we were on the highway. I'm going to try to get a better picture on my way back. I don't think that this indicates yarn shops, but rather the availability of Newfoundland Hand knits and handmade crafts, but I thought it was amusing nonetheless.

Corner Brook is a beautiful city, that's located in the Humber River Valley. Here's a beautiful shot of the bay in Corner Brook where it leads into the Humber River.

Next we headed to my favourite Newfoundland restaurant; Jungle Jim's where I had a delicious Pina Colada:

After our supper we headed home, the road to my hometown is very long and barren but just filled with beautiful picturesque scenes. I'll show you just a few but I'll put everything online once I'm back in Montreal and have a better internet connection. Most of the local highways have a nickname in Newfoundland the road that leads to Burgeo is called the Caribou Trail:

One of the many rivers or brooks with the Annieopsquotch Mountains in the background

One of thousands of Moose on the island, this one is either young or female, we weren't close enough to know.

There are lots more pictures to show, but this is already a very picture heavy post. Once we'd arrived in Burgeo, I went to run a few errands with my mom and to my great surprise found even more Briggs and Little homespun in almost every little store in town which is pretty decent considering we have a small population of around 1600 people. I was even more shocked this time about how inexpensive it was:

I only bought 3 more balls, just enough to make a beautiful pair of tradition fair isle mittens, very common in these parts.

Anyhow, I think this post has gone on long enough, so I'll leave you with just two more beautiful scenic pics.

The view from my parents front yard

The beaches just 1 km from my house! at Sandbanks Provincial Park

Yarn!!!

2007-07-19T21:15:00.001-05:00

So I've been on a kick where I've wanted new yarn lately. so last week I went to Mouliné on my way to Robyn's and got this:

Isn't it delicious.. Its much prettier in person. Pinks, reds, oranges, yellows and corals. I'm in love, now I just need a pattern to go with it. Preferably something with a little bit of lace.

Yesterday at the local SnB I met with Veronik and got some Reynolds soft sea wool in orange for a paid project. I don't even have the pattern yet, but I hope that it will be some good vacation knitting.
I also couldn't help my self and bought some of the same yarn in green from our local yarn pushers.
Neither Molly-Ann or Mary could make it last night, so Molly-Ann was kind enough to drop it to me at work today so that I could have it before I leave. Here are both yarns:

I love it... Anyhow.. I'm off, flying out tomorrow night to Newfoundland. We arrive at 1AM local time saturday morning, and then we have to drive 2 more hours to get home, so I'm gonna try and get a decent night's sleep tonight. Hopefully I'll have a chance to post while i'm there. There'll be lots of nice pictures to see if the weather decides that it likes me this time. Otherwise a lot of pictures of fog. Wish us the best for the weather.

Until next time..

Progress

2007-07-18T23:48:00.000-05:00

So I'm making slow progress with jaywalkers, just haven't found that much time to knit with the trip coming up and all. I'm mostly packed now and on the weekend I sat down and watched a few movies so I knit during them.

Here is my progress:

It feels like its going slow, but I have to keep reminding myself that every inch i gain is actually 2 inches. So it makes me feel better, plus there is no second sock syndrome.

Anyhow, time for bed, until next time.

Jaywalkers cast on.

2007-07-10T21:06:00.000-05:00

So I finally cast on for my Jaywalkers after much prodding from Robyn to get started. She bought us the same yarn so that we could knit them together. She even started a KAL for it. I decided that I wanted to do them both at once, using one very long addi turbo. Here is my progress so far. Approx 2 rows.

Other than that there is not much happening here, I'm working a lot and I'm really looking forward to going home for my vacation in 10 days!!!

Progress pics soon.... Hopefully.

Birthday Meme

2007-07-08T12:41:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Robyn.

The rules: Go to Wikipedia and type in your birth month and date (mine is June 16), then post 3 events, 2 births and a holiday. Then tag 5 others. I tag: nobody since everyone I know has already done this one.

Birthday: August 23rd

Events:
1541 - French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
1833 - Slavery abolished in the British colonies.
1959 - Sally Brown debuts on the Peanuts strip (as an infant).

Births:
1936 - Henry Lee Lucas, American serial killer (I wrote a report on him in High School - we needed to do a report about a Serial Killer).
1970 - River Phoenix, American actor (From one of my favourite movies Stand by Me)

Holiday:
Romania - Liberation Day.

Long Weekends

2007-07-04T20:44:00.000-05:00

So the last two weekends here in Quebec were long weekends, July 24th is St-Jean Baptiste Day which as a proud Canadian citizen I shouldn't celebrate but my fiancé is Québécois. This past weekend as any of my fellow Canadians know was Canada day. We went to both celebrations and both were fun, and besides its more about the music and fireworks than anything else for me. Here is a taste of some of what we saw.

La Journée de la St-Jean Baptiste (Fête Nationale)

Canada Day

I've been a bad knitter, and I haven't knit since Robyn's birthday get together. It's been a hectic couple of weeks. Tonight I missed the usual Knit meetup because of a vet's appointment for Nugget; Just a routine shot, nothing serious.

One of the reasons I love Montréal is Le Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. I've really gotten into Jazz in the past few years and its an amazing experience just to see the amount of people that go to the festival. Here are a few pics:

Lights (using Fireworks feature and movement)

The Masses (la Foule)

an artist painting Jazz Festival scenes

Hopefully I'll have progress pictures to show soon cause I really want to finish these socks. I also need to cast on for Jaywalkers because Robyn started a KAL and we're supposed to knit them together, only problem is she has much more time to knit than me.

Anyhow, it's time for bed. Only two weeks till my vacation to Newfoundland, I'm so excited.

Later Daze!

Monkey business

2007-06-21T20:20:00.000-05:00

I decided to cast on for Monkey after seeing Brainylady's pair both online and in person. I was able to knit most of my leg on my way to Toronto a couple of weekend's ago.

Since getting back I have finished the heel.. Here's my progress:

I cast on at Robyn's here's a few pics of all of us. We each took a pic of the other three and then Robyn's Husband took a couple of the four of us.

Kadi, Me, and Caroline

Kadi, Me, and Robyn

Robyn, Me and Caroline

Kadi, Robyn and Caroline

All four of us (Kadi, Me, Caroline and Robyn)

Yesterday a few of us went to Peel pub for some alcohol induced knitting. Robyn has proof, so I'm gonna ~~steal~~ borrow a picture. You can see the rest on Robyn's blog.

In non knitting news my little Nugget is growing too fast. He's getting so big..

Here's a pic from just after we got him on JF's shoulder:

And here is is just a week ago:

Isn't the difference crazy, that's just in two months.

later daze.

Toronto trip

2007-06-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

Me and JF visited my Aunt and cousins in Toronto for our 3rd anniversary, I knit most of the leg on my Monkey socks on the way there. I was there on International Knit in public day but I couldn't participate in the TTC knit-along since it was also my 3rd anniversary of being with JF, and we met in Toronto so it was extra special to be back there. I did however get to Lettuce Knits right about when the groups were meeting there, and I got myself some lovely Fleece Artist sock yarn:

I also found my long lost friend Jill who is one of my best friends from Newfoundland, I found out about a week before going to Toronto that she was now living there, by way of facebook (of course), and not only is that awesome, but she's also a knitter. YAY! Here's a pic of the two of us at Dairy Queen cooling off on a muggy Toronto Saturday. I think she might have mistaken me for her ice cream.

Toronto was very fun, and I got to see my best friend Robyn there even though she's now in Montrael. We just happened to be there at the same time.

And just cuteness factor here is my little guy sleeping!!

Well that's all for now folks. Until next time.

I failed blogging....

2007-05-23T18:19:00.001-05:00

Ok... so I officially suck at blogging.... In recent news I've frogged Isabella because I didn't have enough yarn for it or so says Mona anyway... Just teasing Mona, she kept telling me I didn't have enough, and I kept knitting anyway because I really wanted to knit it but oh well.. Since then I have knit two standard issue bernat handicrafter cotton dishcloths.. (oh yay! so exciting).

For the stitch marker exchange that Robyn hosted I sent to Barb, Anita (blogless I think) and Karine, I also made a set for our lovely hostess.

Pink for Barb, Blue for Anita, Green & Brown for Karine and Clear with colour for Robyn.

I haven't photographed the stitch markers I've received yet but I will post as soon as I have.

I have been spending most of my time hanging out with my little kitten who finally has his own photospace. I'll leave you with this little teaser:
Otherwise life is good, and hopefully I will find me a pattern that I like and that I don't have to buy new yarn for, I really have to knit something from stash cause I keep buying stuff cause its pretty but I can't ever seem to find anything that I like to knit it up with.

Until next time..

Nugget

2007-04-07T18:17:00.000-05:00

Meet Nugget!! We are also fostering his mom Marble at least until she is fixed, here is a pic of the 2 of them.I know I've been a bad blogger, i just haven't been knitting much i suppose. but I hope to have something soon. If nothing else, pics of my stitch markers.

Take 4

2007-03-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

So here I go again, I guess I'm not much of a writer and therefore writing about what I'm doing to mostly strangers is hard for me. This will probably be mostly a picture blog, but I will try and at least talk about my projects a little. Right now I'm on Isabella from the spring issue of Knitty.

Its the first time I do something this big for myself. and probably actually the biggest project I've ever tried. It feels nice to finally do something for me, I've been on the gift and contracted knitting for a while now.

Since this is at least partially a knitting blog, I will leave you with my first pair of socks, for my fiancé, Jean-François. I think I finished them in late July.Hopefully this won't be the last you will hear from me, since I have a pretty bad track record with blogs. This time, I hope to give it a very honest effort!

Until next time!